Dez Fafara from Devildriver looks like a content man as he bounds into the dressing room at the Brixton Academy where he has just finished soundchecking with his band. For the next half an hour we chat to Dez about Devildriver, his friendship with Phil Anselmo and a few other treats.
Planet Loud – Dez, first of all, what are your memories of the now infamous Download circle pit?
Devildriver “You spend so much time with the band and to call that out and it happens is just magic.You spend your life working as a band for moments like that.”
Planet Loud – And having a well-lubricated Phil Anselmo join you onstage as well must have made you smile?
“Yeah, he was well lubricated but that’s my brother, that’s Phil, we’ve been friends for a long time.”
Planet Loud – It’s a friendship you’ve always been very open about as well?
“I’m extremely close to Phil, we’ve always been tight friends and whenever we’re both in town, we hang out. He’s had a bad rap in recent times but a lot of people don’t know that, when I had no home for years, he threw open his door and took me in when I had nowhere else. Any friend that provides a safe haven and food when you don’t have anything is a dude that you never forget. That’s the same whether it’s Phil Anselmo or not.”
Planet Loud – Okay, Devildriver have been together as a band for six years, how would you sum up that time?
“Memorable, a lot of hard work, a few changes along the way. There are two types of bands : the bands who believe that their first album is the best ever. G’n’R Appetite For Destruction, and there is the kind of band who grow into their sound and just get better over time. I think that is what Devildriver is.”
Planet Loud – How close are you to achieving what you see as “the Devildriver sound?”
“I think with the last record, The Last Kind Words, we put a stamp on what we are about and defined what Devildriver is. In the States a lot of bands were doing sing-song kind of things to get on the radio whereas we did the complete opposite and had 62 profanities on the record. Some places won’t even carry it – fine by me. It’s a middle finger to the people who wanted us to conform.”
Planet Loud – Does it frustrate you that places won’t sell the album for whatever reason?
“A lot of the industry frustrates me. I try not to concentrate on that though as I just want to make the music and travel and have cultural experiences. To travel the world and play my music is all it is about to me.”
Planet Loud – Where has been your favourite place to play?
“Australia, the UK is amazing and has been to me over the years. You can’t bullshit the UK fans.”
Planet Loud – What is the writing process like in Devildriver?
“I write all the lyrics but then I let the band do all the music. We have a listen and if it doesn’t fit the Devildriver thing it goes.”
Planet Loud – It must be great to see that everyone is on the same musical page as you?
“It is. The bottom line is that we do what is best for Devildriver and we don’t want to stray too far from that sound.”
Planet Loud – If you had to put into words what Devildriver is about, what would you say?
“Heavy, aggressive, groovy rock and roll.”
Planet Loud – What inspires you as a writer?
“The human experience whether it is a positive or negative one. I could walk down the street and be inspired to write five songs just from the people I see.”
Planet Loud – You must have seen some amazing things in your time on the road?
“I’ve been on the road for thirteen years and in that time I’ve been home for about a year in total. In that time, I’ve seen so many incredible things, we could sit and talk about it for hours.”
Planet Loud – Are your experiences something that you plan on documenting?
“I’m actually doing a book with a good friend of mine, Dan Epstein from Revolver. He is going to start writing soon. It won’t be the usual 25 girls in the back of a bus thing. It’s going to be about my childhood and what it is like to leave one band and start again. There are very few musicians who have actually come full circle with two bands – Ozzy, Danzig, you can count ‘em. So for me it very gratifying and I just want to talk about what I went through to get to this stage.”
Interview by Graham Finney
